Wire marker tape is utilized to identify individual lengths of wire and is typically provided as multiple rolls of pressure sensitive adhesive tape; each roll of tape being repetitively marked with a different alphanumeric character. Typically, the wire marker tape is applied by an electrician in a factory environment, thus dictating the need for an easily manipulated, light weight and portable multiple roll tape dispenser.
Additional characteristics desirable in a portable wire marker tape dispenser include the ability of the dispenser to present the distal end of the roll of tape to the user for easy withdrawal, the ability of the dispenser to easily and precisely sever an increment of tape from the roll, and the absence of sharp edges when the dispenser is closed.
The prior art tape dispeners have not solved the problem of providing a multiple roll tape dispenser that possesses all of the characteristics desirable in a multiple roll wire marker tape dispenser. Examples of multiple roll tape dispensers include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,502,252; 3,547,327; 4,252,258; and 4,262,835.